Free Databricks Databricks-Certified-Data-Analyst-Associate Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

Option B is correct. Delta Lake supports time travel, which allows users to query previous table versions by timestamp or version number. The version can be obtained from table history and queried using VERSION AS OF. Restoring the table would change the current table state for everyone, which is not necessary when the analyst only needs to analyze a historical snapshot. VACUUM would remove old data files and can prevent time travel. Official Databricks extract: time travel supports “querying previous table versions,” and the syntax includes SELECT * FROM people10m VERSION AS OF 123. Databricks also states that the version can be obtained from DESCRIBE HISTORY. Note: the two-week snapshot is queryable only if the required log and data files are still retained.

The correct answer is C because Databricks SQL Editor is used to create and save SQL queries. A saved query can later be opened, reused, shared, visualized, and added to a dashboard. A dashboard is not the saved SQL statement itself; it is a reporting object that can contain query results and visualizations. Query History stores past executions, but it is not the correct object for saving a reusable SQL statement.

Official documentation extract used: Databricks states that the SQL editor can be used to “author queries” and “create visualizations.” It also states that the Save button “saves your query,” and query results can be added to a dashboard.

The reason the alert is not functioning as expected is because Databricks SQL Alerts do not support query parameters. This limitation applies to all types of parameters, including date parameters.

Here’s why:

Alerts require static, deterministic query results so they can compare values consistently during scheduled executions.

When a query includes parameters (e.g., a date range parameter), its results may change based on user input or the default value set in the query editor.

However, Databricks SQL Alerts will always use the default value set for the parameter at the time the alert is created. This means the alert doesn’t dynamically adapt to new date ranges and will not reflect changes unless the query is manually updated.

As a result, if the business logic behind the alert depends on changing date ranges or any user input, the alert will not trigger correctly, or may never trigger at all.

Therefore, the correct explanation contradicts Option B, which is incorrect in saying that alerts cannot work with date-based queries at all. In fact, they can—as long as the query is static (i.e., without parameters).

A data analyst can create multiple visualizations from the same query in Databricks SQL by clicking the + button next to the Results tab and selecting Visualization. Each visualization can have a different type, name, and configuration. To add a visualization to a dashboard, the data analyst can click the vertical ellipsis button beneath the visualization, select + Add to Dashboard, and choose an existing or new dashboard. The data analyst can repeat this process for each visualization they want to add to the same dashboard. References: Visualization in Databricks SQL, Visualize queries and create a dashboard in Databricks SQL

the accounts.customers table is an EXTERNAL table, which means that it is stored outside the default warehouse directory and is not managed by Databricks. Therefore, when you run the DROP command on this table, it only removes the metadata information from the metastore, but does not delete the actual data files from the file system. This means that you can still access the data using the location path (dbfs:/stakeholders/customers) or create another table pointing to the same location. However, if you try to query the table using its name (accounts.customers), you will get an error because the table no longer exists in the metastore. References: DROP TABLE | Databricks on AWS, Best practices for dropping a managed Delta Lake table - Databricks

A Sankey diagram is a type of visualization that shows the flow of data between different nodes or categories. It is often used to represent the movement of users through a website, as it can show the paths they take, the sources they come from, the pages they visit, and the outcomes they achieve. A Sankey diagram consists of links and nodes, where the links represent the volume or weight of the flow, and the nodes represent the stages or steps of the flow. The width of the links is proportional to the amount of flow, and the color of the links can indicate different attributes or segments of the flow. A Sankey diagram can help identify the most common or popular user journeys, the bottlenecks or drop-offs in the flow, and the opportunities for improvement or optimization. References: The answer can be verified from Databricks documentation which provides examples and instructions on how to create Sankey diagrams using Databricks SQL Analytics and Databricks Visualizations. Reference links: Databricks SQL Analytics - Sankey Diagram, Databricks Visualizations - Sankey Diagram

Partner Connect is a feature that allows you to easily connect your Databricks workspace to Fivetran and other ingestion partners using an automated workflow. You can select a SQL warehouse or a cluster as the destination for your data replication, and the connection details are sent to Fivetran. You can then choose from over 200 data sources that Fivetran supports and start ingesting data into Delta Lake. References: Connect to Fivetran using Partner Connect, Use Databricks with Fivetran

The SQL Editor page is where the analyst can write and execute SQL queries in Databricks SQL. The SQL Editor page has a query pane where the analyst can type or paste SQL statements, and a results pane where the analyst can view the query results in a table or a chart. The analyst can also browse data objects, edit multiple queries, execute a single query or multiple queries, terminate a query, save a query, download a query result, and more from the SQL Editor page. References: Create a query in SQL editor

Option E is correct. A major benefit of open source technologies and open data formats is avoiding vendor lock-in. Databricks supports open formats and interfaces so data can be used across tools and systems rather than being locked into a proprietary platform. Cloud integrations, governance, and workload scalability are Databricks benefits, but the specific benefit of embracing open source is avoiding vendor lock-in. Official Databricks extract: “Using open data formats and interfaces helps to avoid” vendor lock-in, and Databricks states that no proprietary data formats are used because Delta Lake and Iceberg are open source.

Option B is correct. The function to_date converts a timestamp or date-like expression to a date value, which matches the requirement to extract the date from the timestamp field. unix_timestamp converts to a Unix timestamp value, date_format formats a date or timestamp as a string, and from_unixtime converts Unix time into a timestamp/string representation. Official Databricks documentation states that to_date(expr [, fmt]) returns the expression cast to a date.